Archive of entries posted on September 2017

Dire warnings of wholesale flight of mental clinicians from the Medicare system, with complaints of low and declining reimbursement, and increasing documentation and measurement burdens, did not materialize, at least from 2012 to 2014. 2015 data became available earlier this year from CMS. Here is what the continued pattern looks like. Two percent fewer psychiatrists …

In the Medicare population, psychotherapy is most commonly provided in 45 minute sessions (90834, technically, 38 to 52 minutes in length). Sessions of 53+ minute length (90837) are the second most frequently provided. When the 53+ minute code first became available in 2013, many mental health professionals raised alarms about whether this session length would …